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SPORTS
> LOCAL ATHLETES
South Valley runners ready for long-distance journey
| | | | | | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | | | The South Valley Running Club's team, SVRCrazy, placed 17th in The Relay last year. | | | | | | | | | |
"It was pretty crazy," Kim Moyano began. "You're awake for about 30 hours. You're starving. You run about 18 miles - sometimes in the middle of the night on a deserted highway - and when you're not doing that, you're crammed in a van with six other sweaty, smelly people.
"Basically, it's a lot of fun!"
Sounds like it.
Moyano was describing The Relay, a two-day 199-mile trek from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. The event runs April 19-20 and draws several hundred teams of 12 runners, who each run three of the race's 36 legs in succession.
It's dubbed "California's longest party," and the South Valley Running Club is crashing it again this year.
"It's quite an adventure," said club president Allan Abrams. "It's one of the most different and fun things you'll ever do."
Abrams led the South Valley runners - team name: SVRCrazy - to a 17th-place finish out of 215 teams during their first showing last year. This spring, he'll run alongside eight veterans - including Moyano, Kevin Stuart, Ken Oliver, Gar Chan, Craig Lore, Barbi Ceballos, Gretchen Yoder-Schrock and Rich Benner - plus newcomers Walter Struck, Anthony Rosso and Jorn Jensen.
The dauntless dozen will travel in two festively decorated vans, stopping only to eat and swap runners. While one person runs, the others catch whatever rest they can - wherever they can.
Lore recalled eating breakfast at 2 a.m. in a Denny's while teammates slept on tabletops.
"Running isn't the biggest challenge," Lore said. "Getting by with minimal rest, that gets tough."
Teams pass the time by playing Road Kill, a game in which they keep track of how many runners they've passed.
"When you pass someone, that's road kill," Moyano said. "Some teams jot down how many road kills they have on the side of their van to intimidate you, but it's all for fun."
Calling The Relay a team-building exercise would be an understatement. The more difficult it gets, the better the experience, Abrams said.
"The camaraderie is the best part," he added. "Being with the other runners and getting through together - you really get close with your teammates."
The actual race is only part of The Relay. Each team's $960 entry fee goes toward Organs 'R' Us, a nationwide organization promoting organ donation. In addition, the teams are required to raise at least $600 in donations.
SVRCrazy had $800 by this week.
"We've made a pretty solid effort," Abrams said. "We've received a lot of support."
To get a true sense of completing The Relay, one has to consider the course. Runners spend most of the first day in wine country, kicking their way through Napa Valley and, eventually, Sonoma. They enter Marin just as the sun sets.
Although the race is scheduled to run during a full moon, Moyano said the evening legs are like running "blindfolded."
"I had only the moonlight to guide me and I still couldn't see three feet in front of me," she recalled. "I was waiting for a mountain lion to jump out and attack me. It was pretty scary."
Legs range from 3- to 8.9-miles long and vary in degree of difficulty. Teams can organize legs based on their runners' abilities.
Abrams plans to take the easier ones.
"I'm only doing that because I'm running a 50-mile ultra marathon this weekend," he said. "I'm not going to have much energy for this.
"What's fun about The Relay is that you can strategize. It really doesn't matter how great of a runner you are. You have your experienced runners tackle the tougher routes, and your not-so experienced runners take the easy legs."
According to The Relay's Web site, www.therelay.com, nine of the legs have ocean views, including the scenic midnight stroll across Golden Gate Bridge.
"We drew straws for that leg last year," Moyano said.
The backdrop shifts from rural to urban during the second day as runners snake along U.S. Highway 9. They plod through San Mateo and Santa Clara before, finally, reaching the finish line at Santa Cruz Beach.
"You end right near the Boardwalk - it's a great setting," Lore said.
SVRCrazy reached its goal of clocking less than 27 hours last year. The runners have forgotten the time but not the adventure.
"You don't get much rest but, in the end, it doesn't matter," Lore said. "It's like a road trip with a purpose."
Scott Adams
Scott Adams covers Morgan Hill sports for South Valley Newspapers. Send him an email or call him at 779-4106.
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